


An EVO Blade

by shortforpencil



Category: Generator Rex, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous Chapter (Xenoblade Chronicles 2), Canon-Typical Violence, Dimension Travel, Gen, Post Lions and Lambs, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29907318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortforpencil/pseuds/shortforpencil
Summary: Van Kleiss pushed Breach's powers to go to other dimensions. Breach sent Van Kleiss away, but then couldn't stop the huge swirling rift from sending her and Rex to who knows where.Now Rex is in another dimension and this doesn't look anything like the Earth he's used to. For one, there's clouds everywhere and countries are on or in giant creatures called titans. For another, people keep thinking he's a "blade". Without Providence to call for backup, he's on his own.It's the crossover no one asked for but deserves to happen, Generator Rex and Xenoblade Chronicles 2!
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's in my opinion that the Xenoblade fandom would love Generator Rex and the Generator Rex fandom would love Xenoblade. So here I am, making this in an attempt to get the fandoms to notice the other series and check it out! If you're coming here from one or the other fandom, be warned for vague Xenoblade Chronicles 2 spoilers and Generator Rex (up to the season 2 finale) spoilers.
> 
> This twitter post I made also will help with this AU: https://twitter.com/shortforpencil/status/1362193404004888580

A different Rex would've looked at the arid landscape below, accented by industrial-style architecture, and recognized it as Mor Ardain. But this wasn't that Rex, far from it.

This was instead, Rex Salazar. He was flying around the titan with his blue glowing hoverboard, dubbed the Sky Slyder, and checking out the place. He genuinely had no idea where he was. One moment there was Breach, the next... this. Oh, and Van Kleiss. That bastard.

He'd figure out where he was, he just had to ask — and hope these people spoke english. He headed to the largest structure he could see, thinking it was important and that if anyone could help him, it'd be someone there. Big mistake. Unbeknownst to him, the Ardainian military had already sighted him. To be fair, it's not hard to notice a flying teenager. They didn't know who or what he was, but they readied an ether net for capture, just in case this was a blade.

Rex neared and began making his descent on the roof, and just as he was about to land... he felt himself ensnared in a net. His build collapsed out from under him, sending him tumbling the remaining few dozen feet to the ground. He grunted from the impact, feeling himself starting to lose consciousness. He tried to create a build to bust out of the net, but something was wrong. His powers weren't responding.

His arms lit up with blue lines, flickering then disappearing. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was some people in overly pointy helmets looking down at him.

_Those helmets sure look dumb._

—————

"This had better be good."  
"Special Inquisitor, no one else has been able to successfully interrogate the culprit."

Mòrag sighed. She had received word that an unidentified blade had been spotted trying to "infiltrate the palace" as the reports had said. She got back from her previous assignment as quickly as she could, but she could only wonder if this was worth coming all this way for.

She entered the interrogation chamber and before she took a seat in front of the accused, she studied them. This "blade" appeared to be a teenager, judging not just from his appearance but from the bored demeanor he carried. This was a blade? He lacked a visible core crystal. Then again... this wouldn't be the first time.

"Oh good, someone who isn't wearing a stupid helmet. Maybe I'll actually be able to understand what you're saying. Those other guys really expect anyone to hear anything coming out of their mouths, huh? They're so muffled, it's ridiculous," he ridiculed.

The accent was definitely more like a blade than anything else. The way he was so nonchalant... was he not aware of the trouble he was in? Evidently not.

"You infiltrated Ardainan airspace and were caught attempting to get into Hardhaigh Palace. What do you have to say for yourself? Where is your driver?" Mòrag questioned.  
"Finally someone tells me what this place is called. Driver? Uh... I gave myself a ride here, dude," he scoffed.

...What? He was a blade, was he not? He didn't appear to be from any other country. Not knowing what Hardhaigh Palace was could be chalked up to recent awakening. This was getting more confusing by the minute.

"You are a blade. You have a driver. Don't play coy with me," Mòrag said.  
"I am? I mean, I have a sword, but I don't think I'm my sword. Some people would probably say that I am, though, but I'm definitely _not a fan_ of those people." He seemed to be getting irritated.

Did he not know what a blade was? That was certainly... unexpected. Even recently awakened blades knew what they were, surely. Mòrag took a seat, adjacent from the culprit. Standing around wasn't about to make the situation better. She needed to get to the bottom of this, find out who sent him, where he came from, who he was, and what his objective was.

She certainly didn't have any other plans for the time being. Anything else was being seen to by Brighid. It wasn't like she wanted to spend an extended amount of time handling this interrogation, but she was starting to understand the issues everyone else had been having.

"Who sent you?" Mòrag asked.  
"That's a... complicated story," he replied.  
"I have time."  
"Technically no one? Depends on what you mean by that."  
"Do _not_ play games with me."  
"I'm not, I wouldn't play games _this_ boring."

Mòrag steepled her fingers in front of her mouth, trying not to show how aggravating this was getting. Could he not give straightforward answers? He almost reminded her of Zeke and she considered the thought that this was a practical joke from the Tantalese prince, but that would be too easy.

"Where are you from?" Mòrag was trying to go through her list of questions.  
"Uh... Providence, I guess," he shrugged.

She paused. Providence? She hadn't heard of that. As much of an answer as that was, it wasn't anything she knew of, which put her right back at square one. Of course.

"...What is your name?" Mòrag at least wanted to know the name of who she was dealing with.

She wasn't expecting the response she got.

"Rex."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry? Your name is... what?"  
"It's Rex. Weren't you listening?"

Of course his name was Rex. Of course! Why wouldn't it be? Mòrag struggled to retain her composure, instead opting to suddenly get up from her seat and head to the door.

"We're done here," she said flatly as she exited.

This was more than she wanted to deal with right now. Another Rex? At least visually he looked remarkably different to the driver of the Aegis, but even still. She couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Yet another Rex was being a pain for the Ardainian military. It was certainly a recurring trend.

She made her way to the one who had informed her about the culprit. In time they would find out more about this new Rex, but he needed to be moved to a cell effective immediately.

She didn't get a chance to give the order before a loud _BANG_ of metal colliding with metal echoed from the interrogation room. Of all the times to not have a blade on hand...

—————

Rex decided this whole thing stopped being entertaining right around when the person with the funky hat left. For someone with such a strong reaction to his name, he sure didn't get hers. Whatever. If they thought his restraints were good enough, they hadn't seen anything yet.

All it took was building the smackhands and he had freed his arms. Punk busters freed his legs, which he then used to put a hole in the wall next to him. Quick switch from that to the sky slyder and he was breezing past the guards. When he finally found his way out, he happened to pass by the person who had been interrogating him a moment earlier.

They made eye contact for a second before he was off. Now expecting those weird power-sapping nets, he dodged them expertly until he got out of effective range. Time to find somewhere else to be for now.

It took him a few minutes, but eventually he got to a far more lush area. It was a stark contrast to where he had been in before, but he thanked the change in climate. The less dry air in his lungs the better. He found what appeared to be a campsite and landed, pausing to make sure that no one else was around.

He was alone. It was dark by now and while he couldn't do anything to settle his grumbling stomach — the last thing he had eaten was fries at the bowling alley with Breach — he could at least get some warmth to make it through the night. Or he could try, he wasn't exactly versed in making fire.

After a few minutes to gather enough sticks to serve as firewood, arranged rather haphazardly in the firepit, he got out his blast caster, draping the large whip over the branches. Electricity coursed through it and the wood ignited. He retracted the build the second he could feel the heat getting through the metal. This would work for now.

With that, Rex laid on the ground, head propped up against the log that served as a bench, and fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Sunlight filtering through the leaves gently woke Rex up. He grumbled, then got to a sitting position. He was aching from sleeping on the hard ground, but nothing some exploring of the area wouldn't help. He had seen a town on approach, so he supposed that was the first place to head to. He didn't know how he was gonna get food, but he'd figure something out. If he was already wanted by the military, not like swiping some food would be the worst idea.

It didn't take him long to get to the town. While everyone seemed to speak english, nothing was written in it. He didn't know what anything was, much less the name of the town. He winced when he spotted some of the same kind of soldiers that had apprehended him before, but they didn't seem to be attacking. Instead, they were holding some sort of presentation.

Or maybe it was some kind of recruitment. Mor Ardain, huh? He guessed that was probably the country he was last in. He didn't like these guys, but as long as they didn't recognize him yet, he was content to lean against the signboard and observe.

"For the glory of the Ardainian Empire and His Majesty Emperor Niall! Come now, who wants to be the hero of tomorrow?"

Yep, definitely recruitment. There was an odd crystal on the table in front there, and that caught his eye. It apparently caught the eye of someone else, who approached the table with careful confidence. They took a deep breath, then grabbed the core crystal.

Rex wasn't sure what he was seeing, but it was definitely one hell of a light show. When the light dissipated, someone new was standing behind the person, they looked... odd, almost robotic. And the original person was holding what appeared to be some sort of laser cannon. That was definitely surprising.

"So... what just happened?" Rex said to himself, not expecting a reply.  
"That, my chum, was a driver awakening a blade."

Rex didn't have a chance to react before a strong hand grabbed him by the back of his jacket and started to drag him off. He had half a mind to attack, but decided to wait a bit on that. He didn't want too many people seeing, but after enough struggling he managed to slip out of his jacket once they had gotten enough out of town.

Instantly he had the smackhands at the ready, glaring at the man in front of him. And also whoever the hell was by his side with the lightbulbs for shoulders.

"You have 15 seconds to tell me who you are before I wreck you," Rex threatened.

The man seemed unphased, rather like he expected a response like that and had an entire answer prepared in advance. And answer he did!

"You really aren't from around here, eh? Behold, the mighty Zeke! Von! Genbu! Bringer of Chaos! Mostly known as Zeke and often addressed as... the Zekenator! Behold my blade, Pandoria! And this is my sword, the Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher! If you want a taste, come and get it--" "My prince, did you really just reuse the speech you gave to our Rex?"

There was silence between the both of them as Zeke exchanged an awkward, silent glance with Pandoria.

"Well, yes, but _he_ didn't need to know that!" Zeke groaned.  
"I'm just saying, you don't need to reuse that. Come up with something new!" Pandoria commented.

Rex looked at both of them blankly. He really didn't know how to react, but Zeke was as over the top as Gatlocke, which wasn't exactly a good thing in his book. Not to mention, the guy still had his jacket! He charged forward, ready to punch Zeke into the dirt, but Pandoria was faster, a wispy trail of blue light connecting her to her driver, and a shield with a hexagonal pattern appearing around Zeke, the hit connecting with that instead of with him.

Shields, okay. Not something Rex expected, but he could work with it. He took a few steps back and noticed instantly that Pandoria was providing the shield, so he switched targets to her. He was caught off guard by Zeke laughing, giving Pandoria enough time to dodge.

Zeke threw Rex's jacket off to the side with a flourish.

"You _are_ green! You can't hurt a blade! But a fight's a fight," Zeke declared.  
"Those Mor Ardain guys send you?" Rex shot back.  
"Maybe. Think of this more as a favor for dear old Mòrag."  
"I don't know who that is!"

Well, if this guy is gonna use a sword, might as well match. But just as he retracted his smackhands to replace them with the BFS, Zeke rushed forward like the lightning crackling all around him, knocking Rex into the air. The wind was knocked out of his lungs when he landed harshly on his back, coughing as he got back to his feet.

Something he noticed was Pandoria was still at Zeke's side. Did they need to be close for Zeke to use any of his moves? If so...

"Electricity, huh? Two can play at that game," Rex smirked.  
"Now, chum, I think you'll find that rather ineffective," Zeke replied.  
"Maybe so... but only if she's by your side."

In a single, fluid movement, Rex built the blast caster, wrapped the whip-like cable around Pandoria's waist, and flung her to the side. She reached out for Zeke before being unceremoniously tossed.

"Good eye. However, I believe you'll come to realize that this pair of driver and blade aren't your standard. You've only barely slowed me down!" Zeke said, triumphantly.  
"And I got rid of your shield."  
"What?"

Rex swung the whip back at Zeke, coiling it around him now that he was distracted. The electric generator on Rex's back brightened, then electricity was sent crackling down the length of the cord before hitting Zeke. He yelled out in pain, but not as much pain as a standard person would. He grit his teeth and then grinned at Rex, despite the current still flowing.

Rex was surprised enough that Zeke managed to get a good angle to cleave through the whip, ending the electricity and its grip on him, allowing him to quickly step out of it. By now, Pandoria was back on her feet and by Zeke's side.

"You're quite the adversary. But now it's time for..." Zeke leapt into the air, body crackling with electricity, " _Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash... Max!_ "

This was gonna hurt.

The sword never made contact with Rex, but the lightning bolt did, knocking him down. He got up to a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head. This was all gonna sting after the battle, that's for sure. Zeke looked almost impressed by Rex's durability, that was no easy attack to shrug off.

However, it wasn't going to save him from any further attacks. Zeke charged forward again, but this time he collided with a transparent, blue... shield. Rex had gotten back to his feet and put up the block party, both hands reached out to either side maintaining a large dome shield. Zeke smirked, confident that he'd be able to break through it eventually.

Each attack made the shield ripple, but never waver. As long as Rex could maintain it, unless Zeke somehow found help with hitting it, it wasn't going down any time soon. Zeke started to realize that after about five solid minutes of smashing the Big Bang Edge into it.

"It seems we've come to something of a stalemate, wouldn't you say?" Zeke offered.  
"Depends," Rex grumbled.  
"Depends on what, exactly?"  
"If you'll leave me alone."

Zeke took a step back and got a good look at Rex, as good as he could through all the blue, that is. This was just a teenager. Sure, a teenager with incredible powers, but hey, who doesn't have incredible powers these days. He put his hand to his chin, lost in thought.

Then an audible growl came from Rex's stomach. He looked down, still didn't drop the shield, but definitely appeared embarrassed.

"Your name is Rex, yeah?" Zeke asked, demeanor far calmer than before.  
"Yeah. What's it to you?" Rex snapped.  
"I'm terribly sorry, I had misjudged you earlier. Perhaps we can settle our differences over a bite to eat? My treat, of course."

Rex considered the offer, realized he really didn't have much left to lose, then retracted the block party.

—————

"So, you're an... EVO? _Not_ a blade? And you work for an organization called Providence to fight and cure other EVOs? Well, it sounds to me like you've been on quite the adventure in your own world."

Rex was already digging into his fourth helping of ruska dumplings, mouth too full to properly answer, but he nodded in response.

The two of them had caught the other up to speed on things. They had come to the conclusion that Rex was from another world, but Zeke was still trying to process everything that Rex had told him about his own world. Nanites? EVOs? The whole thing sounded overwhelming and downright terrifying, not that he'd admit to it.

"And that's five. He's on five servings of ruska dumplings," Pandoria stated, not sure if she should be impressed or what. She settled on the latter.  
"He's a growing boy, Pandy, let him live," Zeke laughed.  
"You two are gonna get along just fine."

Rex let out a loud burp once he was finished scarfing down the last of the dumplings, quickly covering his mouth. He then got up to throw out the food containers, leaving Zeke and Pandoria more room to discuss things.

"Mòrag's not gonna be happy, Zeke," Pandoria sighed.  
"So what? I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. I'm sure once we get Rex — it is _weird_ knowing two Rexes — to explain his side to Mòrag, it'll all work out! You'll see," Zeke assured.

Rex wandered back to the bench the three of them had been sitting at, with a bit of a puzzled, not-sure-how-to-proceed look on his face. Zeke raised an eyebrow as if to ask Rex what was on his mind.

"Some kids just told me I have a wanted poster."

Pandoria held back her laughter, _that_ certainly was a casual way of bringing that up. Meanwhile Zeke was on his feet in an instant, marching right over to the signboard with Rex and Pandoria in tow. Sure enough, there was a wanted poster for Rex. That was fast.

"Huh. So you do. Ah, don't worry about it, it'll all get resolved in due time." Zeke clapped a hand on Rex's shoulder.  
"Don't speak too soon, my prince." Pandoria motioned to the Ardainian soldiers who had noticed Rex.  
"What is it? Oh. Well, come along chum, let's go to... Argentum! That sounds a good a place as any."

Rex definitely noticed the Ardainian soldiers eying the party as he was dragged along by Zeke. They weren't making any moves just yet, no doubt noticing Zeke and Pandoria. Word was definitely spreading, slowly but surely.


	4. Chapter 4

"You _sure_ an EVO isn't lifting this ship? I'm pretty sure I've seen an EVO that looks kinda like that."

Rex gazed up at the titan hovering above the ship he, Zeke, and Pandoria were about to board to head to Argentum. The whole ship seemed almost blimp-like, with that creature serving as a sort of balloon, lifting the ship itself.

"We oughta start teaching you how things work around here, it's only fair. That there is a titan. Smaller variety, much smaller than the one we're standing on right now," Zeke explained.  
"The one we're... standing on?" Rex looked at the ground uncertainly.  
"Yep! We're standing on the Gormott titan. Everyone lives on titans and uses them for their ships! They've been used as a bunch more _but_ that's the gist of it," Pandoria chimed in, "You might be able to see the head of this titan depending on if the ship passes by it."

Rex paused, then nodded in understanding. This place really was different, to a degree he didn't expect. But there were still humans, at least he assumed Zeke was human. Pandoria... was a blade. Which probably wasn't human. He still didn't get it, but blades not being human, coupled with the accusations of him being a blade... it didn't sit well with him. Too many bad memories associated with being dehumanized.

There was a call for people to board the ship and within minutes they were off, sailing across the clouds. Rex leaned against the railing, looking out at the expanse before him. Zeke leaned backwards against the railing, with Pandoria cautiously standing nearby, half expecting the railing to give way like it had once before.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" Zeke chuckled.  
"Yeah. How do people survive so high up? The oxygen gets thin when you get too far in the atmosphere," Rex said.

Zeke and Pandoria glanced at each other, confused, until the realization dawned on both of them.

"You've got it all wrong. That there is the cloud _sea_. We're not high up so much as the clouds _are_ the sea level," Zeke clarified.  
"Huh? So you could just... swim in that?" Rex asked.  
"If you wanted to, yes! It's got the same density as water." Zeke nodded.  
"One time my prince fell in and swam all the way to Indol!" Pandoria laughed.  
"Oy! Pandy!" Zeke whined.

Rex couldn't help but laugh as well. He wasn't sure what Indol was, but if it was a country like Gormott, that was one part funny one part impressive. He looked back out at the cloud sea. It was so... _endless_. He'd been above the clouds before when he went flying, but it was nothing like this. This was completely different, and to think it was more like water than mist, it was something he was having trouble processing.

He was also tempted to jump off and test it for himself, but he resisted the urge. He'd be able to get out no problem, but he didn't wanna worry anyone, much less potentially get his clothes wet.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Zeke noted.  
"What was your first clue?" Rex snarked back.  
"I'd be willing to try and answer your questions. I'm no Azurda, but I'll do my best."  
"Not sure where to even start. I guess uh... where are we? Aside from the cloud sea."  
"We are in Alrest. A world with a rather storied past. You're definitely better off asking someone else who's seen that past what it was like."

Rex nodded. He'd think about asking someone, but for now he was content not knowing. It didn't really concern him too much right now anyway. There was something else that was nagging at him, though.

"Pandoria mentioned another Rex," Rex spoke up.  
"That she did, didn't she? Yes, we do know another Rex. He doesn't look anything like you, however. You're far... taller," Zeke replied, "At any rate, he's all the way in Leftheria with Nia and some of the others. It's doubtful you'll be meeting him anytime soon. It'd definitely get confusing if you did, that's for certain!"  
"Yeah, I can imagine."

There went any hope that this Rex might be another universe him. It's funny, he hadn't actually encountered anyone else with his name and now the first time he might was in a completely different universe. Leftheria sounded far away, however.

"I still don't really get blades and drivers. Why was I called a blade?" Rex was still struggling to understand this.  
"If I had to wager a guess, it'd be due to your powers. Even so, it's a bit of a stretch. You certainly aren't a blade, blades don't have multiple weapons," Zeke pondered.  
"What about the Aegis?" Pandoria brought up.  
"Ah, but it's still one weapon per form there. Rex here has multiple weapons and only one form. My point still remains!" Zeke corrected.

Zeke put his hand to his chin, deep in thought about how to best answer Rex's question about blades, since that was fairly involved. He was almost too lost in thought to notice the shouting from further up on the ship. Rex and Pandoria, however, did notice, Pandoria tugging on Zeke's sleeve to get him to pay attention.

The three of them got closer to investigate only to see what appeared to be a pair of drivers and their blades up to something malicious, given weapons were being pointed at passengers and crew alike. A hostile takeover, no doubt.

"That explanation will have to wait, chum. A hero's work is never done," Zeke smirked.  
"I'm right behind you." Rex readied for the fight.

Time for an intervention.


	5. Chapter 5

"We're assuming control of this vessel! Comply with our orders and no one gets hurt."

Rex, Zeke, and Pandoria were all hidden just barely out of view, listening in on the criminals. They were formulating the best plan of attack, especially given their oversized weapons, limited space, and civilians in the way. The enemies had an axe and a lance blade.

"Zeke, Pandoria isn't doing any fighting, right? She's just standing there giving you your powers," Rex asked.  
"That's an oversimplified and not entirely accurate observation... but yes, more or less. What did you have in mind?" Zeke inquired.  
"Pandoria, can you get the civilians to safety while we fight these goons?" Rex suggested.  
"I can try, sure," Pandoria agreed.

Rex counted down with his fingers: 3, 2, 1. On 1 Rex and Zeke jumped out from behind cover, smackhands and Big Bang Edge at the ready. Pandoria began making her way over to the civilians, motioning for them to run and get out of the way while the enemy drivers were distracted.

"Now what's this I hear about a hostile takeover, hm? That's certainly _not_ happening, not if the Zekenator has anything to say about it!" Zeke boasted.  
"It's hardly a fair fight... for you guys, that is," Rex added.

Before they could respond, Rex and Zeke charged forward. Rex extended one of his smackhands forward, the force of the impact shoving the axe driver back against the railing, despite the shield. Rex jumped back as the lance driver went for a jab, only for that jab to be countered by a swing from Zeke's sword.

The axe driver got back into the fight, going right for Rex once again. Rex put a smackhand up to block it, only for the blade to become embedded in the build. He made eye contact with the driver as they both comically glanced between each other and the injury, before Rex swung the smackhand to the side, flinging the driver who was still holding onto his weapon.

Rex pulled the axe out with the other smackhand, crumpling it like foil once it was out. He was surprised to see it dissolve into light and a new axe appear in the driver's hands.

"You didn't tell me they could make more weapons!" Rex yelled to Zeke.  
"Didn't get a chance to! The weapon is from the blade, it can be remade as necessary!" Zeke shouted back.

Zeke was blocking the lance with broad side of his sword, unfortunately dealing with the lack of shield consequence of Rex's plan to have Pandoria focus on rescuing the other passengers. With a burst of strength he shoved the lance back and was about to rush the driver when Pandoria finally returned, blue affinity line between her and Zeke forming.

He tossed the Big Bang Edge to her, which she caught, pulling the handle out of the rest of the weapon to reveal a wand. The other part of the sword flew towards the enemy driver, battering them from all sides with the movements of the wand before pulling it back in to reassemble the weapon. Once the Big Bang Edge was reassembled, Pandoria tossed it back to Zeke.

Rex on the other hand was getting his builds battered from blocking the axe attacks. He didn't have an opening or an opportunity to switch to a shield due to the onslaught. With a final swing, he was tossed backwards, inadvertently colliding with Pandoria as his builds were reduced to scrap metal.

He scrambled to his feet, getting himself off Pandoria with a quick "Sorry!" but he noticed that she was dazed and groaning, not really getting up. The affinity line between her and Zeke faded with her close to unconscious.

" _Dammit!_ "

Rex looked up at Zeke's outburst, noticing that the glowing edges on his weapon had deactivated, rendering it about as sharp as a club. That wasn't good. At all. He couldn't do anything to help Pandoria right now, but he could help Zeke as the enemy drivers began closing in.

He ran forth, thinking about building the funchucks, hearing the noise...

...Then looking at his arms to realize that they hadn't built. But the noise?

It was then that he realized everyone had paused and were staring at Zeke, who was looking at his new... _oh._ Zeke was holding a version of the funchucks, slightly smaller than Rex's, with handles instead of the other end covering the hand.

"I thought you said you weren't a blade!" Zeke exclaimed.  
"I'm not! I don't know what's going on!" Rex was just as surprised.  
"Well, you're about to get a crash course in blades whether you want it or not. Stick close!"

Zeke studied the weapons for a moment before giving them a cursory twirl. They spun quickly and he realized that these were a sort of flail. Spinning them more, he marched forward, the other drivers backing up to maintain their distance.

Rex looked down to see the same blue line linking him and Zeke that had linked Zeke and Pandoria before. He waved a hand in it, noticing it flowed around his fingers like some sort of mist. He hoped this didn't mean he couldn't use his own weapons, but he couldn't focus enough to decide on one to use before Zeke interrupted his train of thought.

"How do you use these?" Zeke asked, "I understand the flail part, what else?"  
"They stretch! Use them for long range attacks!" Rex suggested.

Zeke nodded, flinging the head of the flail out at a driver, toppling them to the deck. He smirked, then swung the other out at the second driver and blade, who joined their teammates on the floor in a pile. He let out a hearty laugh, even as the drivers started getting back up.

"And what else?" Zeke asked once more.  
"Spin them and slam them together. You'll see," Rex ordered.

Zeke did as requested, spinning the weapons faster and faster until they began glowing, before slamming them together. His eyes widened in delight as a vertical wave of energy burst out of them, knocking all both drivers and their blades off the side of the ship and into the water. Rex ran to the railing to check on them, only to see them swimming and rightly pissed off from losing.

When he looked back, he saw Pandoria back on her feet and approaching Zeke, albeit a bit dizzily. Zeke caught her as she stumbled into him. Rex noticed that Zeke's funchucks were holstered on his back and the line was gone.

"Hey... what did I miss?" Pandoria gave a weak smile.  
"Only the unexpected conclusion of the battle! Turns out Rex here is a blade after all. Definitely a non-standard one, that's for certain. This is a curious circumstance, but I suppose stranger things have happened," Zeke explained.

Rex really didn't understand what was happening. To say the situation unnerved him would be putting it lightly. Was this world changing him? Or did he have this capability all along and it only took until now to realize it? He was jostled out of his thoughts by the ship coming to a stop and the subsequent call that they'd arrived at Argentum.

"Come along, now! Let's get an inn room reserved for the night and then we can figure out where to go from there," Zeke called to Rex.

This universe wouldn't cease being full of surprises, now would it?


	6. Chapter 6

Argentum was as lively as ever, no surprise for one of the most well-known shopping districts in Alrest. The activity and smell was almost overwhelming for Rex, but he tried to roll with it. The place was massive and it reminded him of a mall with all the shops.

But then something made him freeze. It took Zeke and Pandoria a second to notice that Rex had stopped walking, the teenager's eyes transfixed on one of the many round, fuzzy creatures that made up the establishment.

Nopons. Rex had never seen nopons.

Zeke and Pandoria stifled their laughter as they walked back to Rex. Someone who had never seen a nopon before... Rex was certainly having a lot of firsts for himself and everyone around him.

"What's the... uh... that?" Rex struggled to find the right words.  
"That, my friend, is a nopon. They're one of the many species in Alrest. They can be an unscrupulous bunch, though not all of them are that way," Zeke explained.  
"Aren't they cute?" Pandoria cooed.  
"Not... particularly," Rex admitted.

This gave Zeke and Pandoria pause. Someone who didn't find nopon cute? There had to be a reason.

"Why not?" Pandoria pressed.  
"They remind me of rabbits," Rex elaborated.  
"...You lost me."  
"Long story. A giant EVO rabbit tried to kill me. Okay, maybe not that long of a story."  
"Well, that's wild."

Zeke motioned for the two to keep walking, which they did but Rex only pulled his eyes away from the nopon he was staring at a few seconds later. First order of business, get a room reserved. They ascended the stairs to the floor the inn was on, Rex looking around like a tourist all the while, occasionally with Pandoria grabbing his jacket sleeve to get him to keep moving. There was so much to take in, he couldn't be blamed for getting distracted.

Once they got to the inn, Zeke requested one large room. It took Rex a second to realize what this meant.

"Wait, wouldn't two rooms be better?" Rex asked.  
"What do you mean?" Zeke was confused.  
"Pandoria's a girl."  
"Ah, I see your issue. I've always shared a room with her on our own personal travels. If it'd make you more comfortable, I could get two rooms, but there won't be any funny business to worry about if we share one. The large rooms have four beds as well."  
"It's fine. Really!"  
"If you say so."

Zeke continued with the transaction and was told his room would be ready in an hour. With that, he turned to the rest of the crew.

"Room's secured, let's go show Rex around!" Zeke announced.

The next hour was full of shopping, sight-seeing, and insisting that Rex try a narcipear jelly. He didn't quite understand if they were joking or not when they said that this had gotten them through many hardships on their "greatest adventure", but it wasn't half bad. When they were out by the salvaging deck Rex got a rundown on the career of choice of many of Alrest's citizens, salvaging. In exchange, he regaled them with his journey to Aquania, the hidden underwater EVO city, and how he almost drowned trying to save it. The part where he mentioned "At least I didn't actually drown again." gave both Zeke and Pandoria great concern, but Rex was okay now so it was probably fine. Probably.

And then they got to Reedirait Bookstore. Rex wasn't much for reading outside of comics, but something caught his eye. It was a journal, similar to the one Six had given him a while ago, but made of leather and with a clasp to hold it shut. He leafed through it, remembering that he currently didn't have his own journal with him. If he lost his memories here... he didn't want to think about what would happen. But maybe if he had a journal, he could avoid completely forgetting who he was in a world where no one knew him.

Zeke noticed Rex inspecting the journal and approached him.

"Something catch your eye?" Zeke spoke.  
"Just this journal. I had one back in my world. I have recurring amnesia and Six — he's my mentor — gave me a journal so I could write down my current memories. It'd be cool to have one here, but—" "Say no more."

Zeke pulled the journal out of Rex's hands and went over to the shopkeep to buy it. In the meantime, Pandoria grew interested in what Rex had said.

"I know you're not a blade, you've said it before, but you really have a lot in common with us," Pandoria said.  
"Huh? What do you mean?" Rex replied.  
"Well, when a blade's driver dies, they go back into their core crystal. When another driver reawakens that blade, the blade has none of their memories from the last time they were awakened. It's like what you said, recurring amnesia. Sometimes blades keep journals, but because most of the time anyone can pick up a stray core crystal, it's not exactly the most reliable unless you're a blade that gets passed down from person to person."

Great, more things for Rex to think about. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Zeke handing him the journal, shoving it into his hands just as suddenly as he had removed it moments prior. Rex fell silent, this was a really kind gesture. He barely knew Zeke and yet the man had gone out of his way for him. Not many people did.

"It's yours. No need to thank me." Zeke smiled.  
"Well, I'm gonna anyway. Thanks, I won't forget this," Rex responded.

There wasn't really much of a response to that.

"Get it? Because I'm gonna write it down?"

Pandoria rolled her eyes and Zeke groaned.

"Tough crowd."

—————

A short while later they were in the inn room. Pandoria had excused herself to go shower, being knocked around all day did not do any good in terms of trying to stay clean. Zeke was relaxing, laid back on his bed with his hands behind his head. Rex was busy writing down the gist of his past life and what had happened so far in Alrest, so it took a few tries for Zeke to get his attention.

"Rex!"

Rex finally looked up from what he was writing to see Zeke now sitting upright, propping himself up on his hands.

"You asked about blades, it's high time I answer you about that. You learned firsthand that blades make weapons that their drivers use and Pandoria told you about blade memories. I'll fill you in on the rest. Blades and drivers share a special connection, an affinity bond. Drivers are unarmed without their blades and blades aren't as strong without a driver. It's a mutual partnership, in a sense. Blades do more than shield their drivers, they allow them to access abilities beyond what they could do on their own. Blades are like living weapons, drivers their wielders, but it's so much more than just that. Any of this making sense?"

Rex nodded, but the part about living weapons... that didn't sit well with him. Zeke noticed how upset Rex looked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something wrong?" Zeke spoke with concern.  
"When I was back with Providence, at least early on, all I was seen as was a weapon. They didn't really care about me as a person, just that I could do my job and cure EVOs. I internalized that for a while. I'm better now, but I still don't like being seen as a weapon. I'm a person," Rex vented.  
"I'm sorry if what I said brought back bad memories and I should have worded that better. Blades are very much people and so are you."  
"Thanks, I guess."

Rex closed his journal, locking it with the clasp. He then headed for the door, intending to leave, at least for a bit. He needed to clear his head and process everything that had happened in the past few days.

"I'm going for a walk, I'll be back soon," Rex said.  
"Pandy should be done by the time you get back, so meet us in the Rumbletum Canteen, it's the restaurant right nearby," Zeke replied.

—————

Rex soon found himself on the salvage deck, looking out at the cloud sea. It was mesmerizing, but it didn't exactly draw Rex in, at least he assumed it didn't. Nevertheless, he got closer to the edge of the deck.

The tide was high enough that it was almost spilling over and Rex had an idea. He didn't want to dive in, but as he took off his shoes and socks, he decided to at least sit on the edge and stick his feet in.

Zeke was right, it did have the consistency of water, but it somehow wasn't wet. It felt like liquid air in a way. He doubted he could breathe in it and wasn't about to try that. He might be reckless, but he wasn't stupid.

"This world is so weird."

But he felt just as weird, if not weirder. Was he still an EVO? Was he a blade? He remembered that the blades he had seen had a crystal on their chest, their core crystal?

Rex tugged on the collar of his shirt to look at his chest. Nope, no crystal, just the usual scarred, tan skin. At least he wasn't transforming into anything by being here. Maybe it was just a result of the physics of this world.

"Gee, the sunset's real pretty here."

And that was when he felt it. Rather, felt _her_. The telltale unease of his nanites in their ceaseless buzzing. The sensation of something being wrong, of the fabric of reality being torn.

_Breach._

Rex quickly got his shoes back on, getting to his feet. He couldn't tell if her presence was worrying or comforting. They were friends now, right?

"Breach, you can come out now. I know you're there."

No response. Nothing. Could she not hear him? He was expecting a portal to appear, blood red and swirling just like usual.

And then the feeling passed. She was gone. If she had been there at all.

She had. He was sure of it.


	7. Chapter 7

In Argentum, Rex was enjoying dinner and exchanging stories with Zeke and Pandoria before heading to bed.

But back in Torigoth, a certain man with long black hair, accented by some stray white stripes noticed the wanted poster for Rex that remained on the signboard. He smirked, realizing this meant he wasn't alone here, that his greatest enemy and nuisance had come along.

"Translate this sign for me, Hana," Van Kleiss instructed.  
"Wanted: Rogue Blade," the common blade read, "Posted by the Ardainian military."  
"Oh, he's a blade? Perhaps a case of mistaken identity, or perhaps not. No matter. There's only so many titans he can hide out on. It's only a matter of time before we meet."

Van Kleiss turned, eyeing the core crystal sitting on the table in front of the Ardainian soldiers.

"And if he _is_ a blade, well... he'll be mine soon enough."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a much shorter chapter than the others, but I wanted to establish the villain of the story! We'll get back to the usual next update.
> 
> I also wanted to ask for feedback. If you like what you've read so far, please lemme know what you think in the comments! I'd love to know how people are reacting to this.


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